VATANEN'S MILESTONE
Ari Vatanen celebrated his 60th birthday on
Friday 27 April, the first day of this year’s
Rally Argentina.
It was in 1985, 27 years ago that he
survived a horrendous crash, ironically on
the first day of the Argentinian WRC event.
Vatanen is one of the most personable
drivers in the history of the sport, and the
memory of the day when Ari nearly died
remains with all who followed the sport in
those times.
Ari had been World Champion in 1981
driving for the private Rothmans sponsored
team run by David Sutton Cars, the second
and last time a Ford driver had won the title,
and the last time a world championship
winning driver was run by a private team.
Ari officially started exactly 100 WRC
events (in addition to one when he crashed
before the start), winning 10. Four wins
were with Ford, one with Opel and five with
Peugeot. His early career featured many
retirements – in his first 12 world rally starts
he only finished once!
His international career began in 1974,
interrupted by his Argentina accident, then
resumed spasmodically before rallying in
the Mitsubishi and then the Subaru teams.
He retired from WRC rallying in 1998,
making one comeback appearance, again in
a Peugeot, on the 2003 Neste Rally Finland.
His return to health came at the time
Peugeot withdrew from the WRC and
moved to cross country rallying, in
which Vatanen gained his greatest career
achievement, winning Paris Dakar four
times (three times with Peugeot and once
with Citroen). He was denied a fifth win on
this event when his car was stolen in mid
event!
His remarkable career has recently
encompassed political activities, becoming
a member of the European parliament, and
challenging for the Presidency of the FIA.
LATVALA STAYS
– for the moment
M-Sport director Malcolm
Wilson has emphasized his
continued trust in the injured
Jari-Matti Latvala, when asked
about team policies in view of
Petter Solberg’s good current
form at the pre-Rally Argentina
press conference.
“Nothing has changed, we are
going on with our strategy as the
season unfolds. We need to be
very clear that for us to win the
Championship for Manufacturers,
we are going to have to win
rallies. Our big push is to win
rallies.
“We have seen this year that
Jari has the pace to do that. We
will be running him again as soon
as possible. If we have to alter
our strategies later we will do
that. Petter Solberg has certainly
fitted into the team and he’s
driving very well. He is getting
more and more confident.
“There is light at the end of the
tunnel. Our priority is to make
sure we can make Jari fit for
Greece.”
Drivers with rally-winning
heritage are thin on the ground.
In the Ford team in Argentina
were one driver who has never
won a WRC, and the other (a
former world champion) who has
not won a WRC for over six years.
Latvala has won six in the last
four years.
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GPWEEK.com //
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